ABIGAIL'S GHOST: Black Plastic Sun (PROGRESSIVE ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

After a second album that attracted a lot of attention, it took the American quintet of Abigail's Ghost 6 years to produce a successor to "D_Letion". At the time, a strong connection with the current fashionable band, Porcupine Tree, was highlighted. Today, while Steven Wilson has for the moment put his band aside, it is more than interesting to see how the trio's music has evolved.

The first track of this new album will give some leads, but they will be far from exhaustive. As expected, the porcupine's shadow hovers over 'Thereafter' again, a melodic and symphonic piece crossed by metal projections and powerful choruses, and punctuated by a splendid guitar solo, while the drummer manages to incorporate many rhytmic setbacks. But, the presence of the violin and a quasi waltz in the middle of this first track already suggest that Abigail's Ghost, far from using a already known recipe, will develop its own personality.

So, even if a good majority of the album will remain in the maestro's footsteps, or at least in a similar style, like in 'Silver','Protist' or 'Smotherbox' - the highlight of the album , the band try more unexpected tracks, with melancholic finery. Emblematic of this trend, "Le Metteur" offers us a track with a languorous melody, supported by dissonant baroque chords, before the chorus unfolds a symphonism with major chords. The same recipe is used again for 'Sweet Serenity', and to a lesser extent on other quiet titles like 'For Damien'. It is also worth mentioning the sound spectrum modulations made on these tracks by the guitarist during his solos.

The first listening of these tracks does not leave an unforgettable memory, so much they contrast with the more energetic side developed by the trio on the rest of the record. However, they end up revealing themselves as a perfect counterpoint to the more classical titles, and we then discover their own personality which makes them essential to the good performance of the whole.

Without revolutionizing the genre, Abilgail's Ghost provides us with "Black Plastic Sun", an album in the tradition of its predecessors, offering enough variety to satisfy more than one progressive rock fan, while affirming its own personality, symbolized by the digressions to the genre mentioned above. - Official website

ABIGAIL'S GHOST

BLACK PLASTIC SUN

AUTRE LABEL

PROGRESSIVE ROCK